Special report:

Iraq and its fellow-Arabs

Kiss and make-up

Iraq's very useful bargain

IT WAS hardly the stuff of romance, but the embrace between Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Abdullah, and Iraq's second-in-command, Ezzat Ibrahim, raised cheers from delegates to last week's Arab summit meeting in Beirut. The frost remaining from Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait melted away—and American hopes of effecting “regime change” in Iraq slipped further over the horizon.

The bloody events of the intervening week should not obscure the significance of Iraq's Arab rehabilitation. The Beirut summit ended with a resolution committing Iraq to respect “the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Kuwait, something it has not done since declaring the emirate to be its own 19th province during the Gulf crisis. In exchange, the Iraqis got what they wanted: a categorical Arab rejection of any attack on them.

The following week, they got more. A meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, a group representing 57 countries and a fifth of humanity, resolved to oppose “any unilateral action taken against any Islamic country under the pretext of combating international terrorism”. And, to the surprise of many, Kuwait's government pronounced itself 100% satisfied with the Arab non-aggression pact, and called on its news editors to tone down anti-Iraqi commentary.

All this comes as a rude shock to the American administration. The vice-president, Dick Cheney, had recently toured the region to drum up support for dislodging Saddam Hussein's regime. The Arab deal would, at least theoretically, deny America the use of its extensive basing facilities in the Gulf for the purpose of hitting Iraq.

The Arab move to protect Iraq is not an expression of any liking for Mr Hussein. What it does show is compassion for Iraqis, and Arab anger over the Bush administration's reluctance to rein in Israel. In Beirut, Iraq's mute acquiescence in Crown Prince Abdullah's peace proposals—full Arab recognition for Israel in exchange for a full return of Arab land—marked a significant departure.

The speculation is that the Saudis persuaded Iraq to “recognise” Israel in exchange for greater Arab support. As it turns out, Mr Sharon's war has left Prince Abdullah's peace plan in tatters, but left Saddam Hussein holding a remarkably useful prize.